The Stability of Value-Added Measures of Teacher Effectiveness
Raegen Miller
About the research
Award
NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship
Award Year
2007
Institution
Harvard University
Primary Discipline
Statistics/measurement/research methods
Many parties are anxious to bring Value-Added Assessment (VAA), a class of statistical models, to bear on decisions affecting teachers. Decisions about compensation, assignment, or job-security, however, require high-quality information. The proposed study will assess the year-to-year stability of one type of information provided by VAA, the relative effectiveness of teachers in promoting academic achievement of their students, often called teacher effects. The study will exploit a previously assembled dataset including information on students, teachers, and schools in a large, urban school district over three consecutive years. The study will use regression techniques to shed light on questions about the stability teacher effects. The answers to these questions will inform strategies and tactics of school leaders grappling with information provided by VAA, the deliberations of policymakers weighing the advantages and disadvantages of programs using information provided by VAA, and the agendas of researchers interested in the technical underpinnings of VAA
About Raegen Miller
N/A